HE WAS the business brain behind one of the Royal's favourite cakemakers but, two weeks ago, cancer tragically claimed his life.

HE WAS the business brain behind one of the Royal's favourite cakemakers but, two weeks ago, cancer tragically claimed his life.

Roy McCarfrae, from Crosby, who was responsible for two Royal wedding cakes, was only told six months ago that he was suffering from the devastating disease.

But, despite a desperate battle, Roy, who ran David Cakes Of Distinction, would never recover.

Today, his wife of 42 years paid tribute to the love of her life and vowed to help the ECHO Sunrise Fund raise hundreds of thousands of pounds for the Macmillan nurses, who helped her family so much in Roy's final weeks.

She says: "I don't know where to begin to describe Roy because he was such a wonderful man and so well-loved by everyone who knew him.

"Every morning he would greet his Macmillan nurses with a big grin and say 'give us a hug'.

"He was so determined to get well right up until the end but, eventually, we knew there was not much hope."

Roy was diagnosed with skin cancer in January and underwent an operation to remove the malignant melanoma on his arm.

But the cancer spread into his lymphatic system and lungs and doctors at the Royal Liverpool Hospital and Broadgreen said there was nothing more they could do.

Hilda says: "It was very hard. We asked the doctors for the prognosis and they said six months.

"It's just so quick and so difficult to come to terms with.

"I don't want to frighten people but it is so important that people check their moles and are careful in the sun.

"I don't like to think that it was the sun that caused Roy's cancer but I know that it probably was."

Over 350 people turned up for Roy's funeral at St Helen's Church, in Crosby, where the couple had married in 1960.

Hilda says: "We had known each other since we were 14, we lived in roads opposite each other.

" Roy went away to do his National Service and, when he came back, we got engaged and had a joint 21st birthday party at the same time as both our birthdays were in August." She adds: "It's very hard losing someone who you have spent so much time with but that is why I was so determined to try and help the Sunrise Fund in memory of my Roy."

Roy's son David, who made the cakes for Sarah Ferguson's wedding to Prince Andrew as well as Sophie and Edward Wessex's ceremony, said his dad had always been his inspiration.

He said: "When I was at school I had two great loves, music and cooking.

"I was the only boy in school to do cookery and everybody used to laugh at me but dad was always so supportive.

"We set up the business as a family but music was always my first love and dad knew that.

"The last words he ever said to me were 'make the music work for me'."

Just before he died, David played his dad a song he had written called Forever Free.

Now he has decided to release the single to raise money for the Sunrise Fund and Macmillan Cancer Relief in tribute to his father. And Billy Kindsley, from the Merseybeats, has agreed to produce it.

David says: "I feel like it is fate because I wrote this song two years ago but the words say exactly what I feel about my dad.

"It's about losing someone and how their spirit comes back to you and takes you to where they are.

"Everybody who has heard it who knew my dad has cried because it reminds them of him so much.

"When I saw the articles in the ECHO about the Sunrise Fund I just knew that I had to release the single to raise cash for the appeal."

Crosby singer Claire Lomax has joined forces with David to put her vocals on the track which they are hoping will become a big club hit.

David says: "We've recorded three different versions, an acoustic track, a ballad and a club mix.

"It's a song which lends itself to a lot of different sounds."

But David now needs help to copy the CD and distribute them. He is also looking for an artist to design the CD cover.

David adds: "I want to do this for dad and also to help the Macmillan nurses that meant so much to the whole family when we were trying to cope with dad's illness."